About me
Welcome to the site of Haris Dimitriadis devoted to the Epicurean Philosophy and its application in modern life. Born in Greece, Haris studied Mathematics at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki as well as Economics at the London School of Economics.
His career spanned the business and banking industries and has settled into retirement. Through climbing the corporate ladder he found it brought little peace of mind and turned his attention to the philosophy of Epicurus.
About Epicurus
THE BIOGRAPHY OF EPICURUS
By Haris Dimitriadis
Epicurus, son of Neocles and Chaerestrate, was an Athenian of the Gargettus ward and the Philaidae clan, as Metrodorus says in his book On Noble Birth. He is said by Heraclides (in his Epitome of Sotion) as well as by others, to have been brought up at Samos after the Athenians had sent colonists there, and to have come to Athens at the age of eighteen, at the time when Xenocrates was head of the Academy and Aristotle was in Chalcis...
Article of the month
Life lessons from history
January 2018
Pyrrhus of Epirus (died 272 B.C.), was a king with a lust for conquest. He set out from his little state of Epirus, Greece, to conquer the world. As was the style at the time he took not only warriors with him but cultivated men to discourse with. One of these men was Cyneas, a wise man who occasion to speak of Epicurus and his philosophy, which places chief happiness of man in pleasure and declining public affairs as a disturbance of a happy life.
Plutarch in his Life of Pyrrhus* records one of the conversations between Pyrrhus and Cyneas:
Read moreNature vs Reason
Philosphic inquiry took two distinct approaches in searching truth. The first one recognized the precedence of nature and the second of logic.The natural approach took the lead in the course of time through Thales and later with Democritus, but it suffered a recession by the revolutionary teaching of Socrates, Plato and partly of Aristotle, who gave precedence to logic and its ideas. Soon though the theory of Platonic ideas was abandoned and the tradition of Ionian science of Thales was reviving supported by Epicurus and Aristotle who in the later part of his life turned to the study of biology.
This historic evolution of philosophical thought had the immediate effect to create a competition between Nature and Reason for the command of philosophic attention. Epicurus the last of the eminent philosophers of antiquity denied the existence of Platonic ideas on the ground that the only existences were atoms and empty space. Thus to his thinking man stood face to face with physical reality primarily through his senses an...
Read moreExcerpts from the book
CHAPTER 1
OVERVIEW
“The secret of happiness is in the
diathesis (disposition) of which we are sole arbiters.”
Epicurean follower, Diogenes of Oenoanda
Of all the philosophers to ever walk the golden grounds of ancient Greece, there was one man particularly worthy of notice. So notable was his work that even now, two thousand three hundred years later, his philosophy is one that lingers in the social fabric of man. It is safe to say that it will continue to do so. His name was Epicurus, son of Neocles and Chaerestrate. His philosophy was that of a happy life based...
Read moreEpicurean Counselling
Epicurean Philosophical Counselling
Since antiquity the task of the practical Epicurean philosophy has been seen to “expel passions of the soul” by providing precepts for a balanced, happy life. Such life has been thought to include simple natural pleasures wisely chosen.
We all practice philosophy. The only question is whether we do it so self-consciously and well, or unconsciously and poorly. Our beliefs shape the course of our actions and a culture’s philosophy determines the character of its civilization. As long as these remain unconscious and unexamined, ...
Read moreEpicurean Quotes
Videos
Living like Epicurus Video Clip
The Bright Side Video Clip
Epicurus and the Pleasant Life - book trailer
Epicurus : Animated Explainer Video
Music
Book Buyers can download for free the album Epicurus and The Pleasant Life
Songs: On The Bright Side and Living Like Epicurus
Music - Singer: Bojan Aleksić
Lyrics and property rights: Haris Dimitriadis
Song: Nature's calls
Music - Singer: Chris Hardy
Lyrics and property rights: Haris Dimitriadis
Gallery
Buy the Book
Join the author Haris Dimitriadis on a journey through the history of philosophical and religious thought, as well as an in-depth look at the modern neuroscience, psychology, and astrophysics, and discover why the ancient Epicurean Philosophy of Nature matters as much today as it did two thousand and three hundred years ago! The answers you will find may surprise you, for you will learn, beyond any doubt, that you, too, hold the power of self-transformation, and a blissfully happy life.
The book Epicurus and The Pleasant Life: Living by the philosophy of nature by Haris Dimitriadis, is available for purchase through Amazon.